State of NH Home Inspector Standards of Practice

CHAPTER Home 600 STANDARDS OF PRACTICE

(a) The purpose of these standards of practice is to establish a minimum and uniform standard for home inspectors. These standards of practice are intended to provide the public with objective information regarding the condition of the systems and components of the home as inspected at the time of the home inspection.

(b) The rules shall be binding upon every person holding a license issued by the board

(c) These standards of practice shall be applicable to buildings with 4 or fewer dwelling units, individual residential condominium units, and their attached garages or attached carports.

(b) “Architectural services” means any practice involving the art and science of building design for construction of any structure or grouping of structures and the use of space within and surrounding the structures or the design for construction, including but not specifically limited to, schematic design, design development, preparation of construction contract documents, and administration of the construction contract.

(e) “Decorative” means ornamental; not required for the operation of the essential systems and components of a home.

(f) “Describe” means to identify (in writing) a system or component by its type or other distinguishing characteristics.

(g) “Dismantle” means to take apart or remove any component, device or piece of equipment that would not be taken apart or removed by a homeowner in the course of normal and routine home owner maintenance.

(h) “Engineering” means the application of scientific knowledge for the design, control, or use of building structures, equipment, or apparatus building structures, equipment, or apparatus.

(i) “Further evaluation” means examination and analysis by a qualified professional, tradesman, or service technician beyond that provided by the home inspection.

(j) “Home inspection” means the process by which an inspector visuallyexamines the readily accessible systems and components of a home and which describes those systems and components in accordance with these standards of practice.

(l) “Inspect” means to examine any system or component of a building in accordance with Home 600, using normal operating controls and opening readily accessible covers.

(m) “Inspector” means a person hired to examine any system or component of a building in accordance with these standards of practice.

(n) “Installed” means attached such that removal requires tools.

(o) “Normal operating controls” means devices such as thermostats, switches or valves intended to be operated by the homeowner.

(p) “Readily accessible” means available for visual inspection without requiring moving of personal property, dismantling, destructive measures, use of a ladder, or any action which will likely involve risk to persons or property.

(q) “Readily accessible panel” means a panel provided for homeowner inspection and maintenance that is readily accessible, within normal reach, can be removed by one person, and is not sealed in place.

(t) “Representative number” means one component per room for multiple similar interior components such as windows and electric receptacles; one component on each side of the building for multiple similar exterior components.

(u) “Roof drainage systems” means components used to carry water off a roof and away from a building.

(x) “Shut down” means a state in which a system or component cannot be operated by normal operating controls.

(y) “Solid fuel burning appliances” means a hearth and fire chamber or similar prepared place in which a fire may be built and that is built in conjunction with a chimney; or a listed assembly of a fire chamber, its chimney, and related factory-made parts designed for unit assembly without requiring field construction.

(aa) “System” means a combination of interacting or interdependent components, assembled to carry out one or more functions.

(ab) “Technically exhaustive” means an investigation that involves dismantling, the extensive use of advanced techniques, measurements, instruments, testing, calculations, or other means.

(ac) “Under floor crawl space” means the area within the confines of the foundation and between the ground and the underside of the floor.

(ad) “Unsafe” means a condition in a readily accessible, installed system or component that is judged to be a significant risk of bodily injury during normal, day-to-day use; the risk may be due to damage, deterioration, improper installation, or a change in accepted residential construction standards.

(ae) “Wiring methods” means identification of electrical conductors or wires by their general type, such as non-metallic sheathed cable, armored cable, or knob and tube.

(b) The home inspector shall report those systems and components inspected that, in the professional opinion of the inspector, are not functioning properly, significantly deficient, unsafe, or near the end of their service lives.

(c) The home inspector shall make recommendations to correct, or monitor for future correction, the deficiencies reported in Home 603.01 (b) or items needing further evaluation.

(d) The home inspector shall report systems and components designated for inspection pursuant to the standards of practice that were present at the time of the home inspection but were not inspected and the reason or reasons they were not inspected.

(e) These standards of practice shall not limit inspectors from including other inspection services or systems and components in addition to those required in Home 603.01 (a).

(f) The home inspector shall exclude systems and components from the inspection if requested by the client.

(g) Home inspectors shall not have to determine methods or materials necessary for corrections.

(h) Home inspectors shall not project costs of repairs.

Home 603.02 Home Inspection Standards.

(a) When inspecting structural systems the home inspector shall inspect:

(5) Dismantle any system or component, except as explicitly required by Home 600;

(6) Walk on roofs; and

(7) Operate sump pumps.

(aq) Home inspectors shall not:

(1) Report on market value of property or its marketability;

(2) Report on the advisability or inadvisability of the purchase of the property;

(3) Offer or perform additional inspectional services such as engineering, architectural, surveying, plumbing, electrical, pest control, or any other inspectional service requiring an occupational license and or registration in New Hampshire unless the inspector holds a valid registration and or occupational license, in which case he or she may inform the client that he or she is so registered/licensed, and is therefore qualified to go beyond this subdivision;

(4) Estimate or project the cost of repairs;

(5) Determine or verify property lines;

(6) Operate any system or component that is shut down or otherwise inoperable;

(7) Operate any system or component, which does not respond to normal operating controls;

(8) Predict future conditions and failure of systems or components;

(9) Project operating costs of systems or components;

(10) Evaluate acoustical characteristics of any system or component;

(11) Determine any basement or crawlspace water tightness; and

(12) Turn on or off any solid or liquid gas fuel burning device.

(ar) The home inspector shall not have to perform any action or make any determination not specifically stated in these standards of practice.

(as) Inspections performed in accordance with these standards of practice shall not have to identify concealed conditions, latent defects, or consequential damage or damages.